Combined shoveling-board and end-gate for wagons



(No Model.)

G. W. HOLLY. Combined Shoveling Board and End Gate for Wagons. No. 232,969. Patented Oct. 5,1880.

is J I ".PEI'F-RS. FMDTO-LITHOGRAFHER. WASHINGTON. n. C.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFrcE.

GEORGE W. HOLLY, OF LOW MOOR, IOWA.

COMBINED SHOVELlNG-BOARD AND END-GATE FOR WAGONS.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 232,969, dated October 5, 1880. Application filed August 16, 1880. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, GEORGE \V. HOLLY, of Low Moor, Olinton county, Iowa, have invented a new and useful Improvement in Oombined Shoveling-Board and End- Gate for VVagon-Boxes, of which the following is a specification, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, in which like letters indicate like parts in the different figures.

The object of my invention is to construct an end gate for wagon-boxes which may be made to form a shovelingboard for the same when desired.

In the drawings, Figure 1 is a top view of the device when closed, broken away to show the fastening and hinge. Fig. 2 is a sectional side view of the device when open, and Fig. 3 is an end view of the device when open.

A A represent the side-boards of an ordinary wagonbox, on the insideand near the rear end ofeach of which are the parallel cleats a a. p

B is a board, which, when the device is closed, extends across and forms the rear end ot'the box, and is capable of being swung back so as to form an extension of the bottom ot'the box at a slightly-elevated angle, and thus constituting a shoveling-board. It is pivoted to the sides ofthe box, near their bottoms, by gudgeons I), extending from the shoveling-board into suitable recesses provided in the inner cleats, a a, and is provided with the cleats b b b on its outer face. A beveled cleat, D is fastened to and across the bottom of the box, so as to form a continuation of the upper surface of the shoveling-board when extended till it meets the bottom of the box, thus providing an unbroken surface.

0 U is a double gate, one-half of which is hinged to each of the inner of the two cleats a a in such position that when closed they bear against the cleats of the shovelingboard B, and support it, and also are hinged in such manner that when closed their outer ends fit into the recess between the two cleats a a, on either side of the box, the outer cleats thus sustaining the end-gates against pressure in an outward direction, and when open the hinged ends bear against the inner cleats, a a.

One of the gates is provided with a screw, 0,

set near its edge, which, when the device is closed, engages a nut, 0 fixed in the middle cleat, I), of the shoveling-board. A spur, I), also projects from the shoveling-board into a suitable opening in the other gate, and a batten, 0 fastened to the first gate, and extends beyond the edge of and laps upon the other gate when closed. Thus when the screw 0 is set in the rut b in the shoveling-board, all of the parts are bound firmly together. Other modes of fastening might be suggested which would answer the purpose equally well, it not being intended to confine the construction to this particular one.

The hinged ends of the end-gates are provided with angle-irons 0 (shown in Fig. 1,) which, when the gates are closed, set into proper recesses in the outer cleats, a a, engaging them, as shown, and furnish a support which relieves the hinges from strain and prevents the sides of the box from spreading.

When the endgates are swung outward they form extensions of the side-boards of the wagon-box. They are provided with cleats 0 c fastened to their inner sides, near their lower edges, at a slight angle thereto, which furnish a support upon which the shovelingboard rests, as shown in Figs. 1 and 2, thus forming a continuation of the bottom of the box. The upper edges of the cleats and the portion of the shoveling-board resting upon them are rabheted, so that the cleats and shoveling-board, when the device is open, engage each other, and thus prevent the end-gates from spreading while supporting the board. Other devices for this purpose can be used, such as spurs or angle-irons in the shovelingboard, which shall engage staples in the end gates. The end-gates are also provided with cleats c fastened vertically on the outside, near their hinged ends, which, when the gates are open, bear against the outer cleats, a a, of the side-boards. This, with the hearing which the ends of the gates have against the inner cleats, a a, gives the gates, when open, greater solidity and firmness.

The dotted lines in Fig. 2 represent a top box, to be added when it is desired to form what is known as a double box. In such case the end-board of the double box forms a continuation of the shoveling-board, to which it is fastened by means of cleats with which it is provided, which extend beyond and below the board, and have tongues or grooves which tit into corresponding tongues or grooves in the outer cleats of the shoveling-board B, of which it is thus made to form a part. WVhen the shoveling-board is thrown back this exteir sion is supported by the an gle-irons 0 0, which are pivoted on the inside of the gates C 0. When closed, spurs or angle-irons b on the ends and upper parts of the extension of the shoveling-board engage staples a in the sideboards of the upper box and thus sustain them against lateral pressure.

What I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is

A shoveling-board pivoted inside a wagon or other box and provided with the cleats b b I), the nut b and spur I), in combination with the gates G O, hinged to the side-boards (t a, and provided with the screws 0, cleats 0 c 0 angle-irons c and supporting-cleats 0 eonstruoted to engage and support the shovelingboard B when extended, and with or without the supporting-irons c c, and the beveled eleat I)", substantially as and for the purposes described.

GEORGE \V. HOLLY. Witnesses ARVIN S. OLIN, ALANSON D. HOLLY. 

